Does today count as a ski day – YES!

Martin Griff / The Times of TrentonI closed down the lifts at Okemo today. It's more fun to open them and close them. Maybe on Saturday.

The plan was to get up at 3:30 a.m. make the five-hour drive from central Jersey to Okemo Mountain Resort in central Vermont, and be on the chair for first tracks at 9: a.m.

After the alarm when off I went back to bed for five minutes. The next thing I knew it was 6:30. I worked the keyboard for a while and posted a couple of blog entries, rather than fight rush hour traffic, was on the road at 9, at Okemo at 2 and on the chairlift at 2:19 p.m., thinking about last tracks instead of first.

Martin Griff / The Times of TrentonIt's too early in the season for the Amp bus and most other elements to be set up in the terrain parks, though a few rails we ready to ride.

I got in 11 rides on high-speed lifts, and except for a short pause to push the shutter button, it was non-stop downhill. There were hardly any other souls on the mountain so I was able to ski hard and fast without fear of bumping into others. I left my Droid phone with a tracking app in the car, so I don’t have a record of speed, vertical or distance, but it felt like a got in a full day of skiing. Count for the season . . . 2!
Ski Magazine is hosting a demo weekend at Okemo featuring next year’s gear. Demo sign up was at the Outback Pizza at the base of Okemo Mountain Road. I went for the sign up and stayed for pizza and beer. I’m usually not much for the bar scene, but they had satellite radio playing and tuned to a Grateful Dead channel. Who even knew such a thing existed? I’ve got to get out more.

The pizza was pretty good too. – cooked in a 650 degree wood-fire oven. Thumbs up on the pesto and mozzarella – two of my favorite food groups.

Martin Griff / The Times of TrentonSnowmakers get the base area of the Jackson Gore section of Okemo ready for first tracks.